Austin, TX. National Instruments Corp., Room 1S13/1S14/1S15 Bldg-C, 11500 N MO Pac Expy. Richard Stallman wrote the first GNU General Public License in 1989, and version 3 which was completed in 2007. He will discuss the philosophy of the GNU GPL, the changes made in version 3, and the reasons for those changes. Admission is free and the talk will be accessible to all audiences. Registration through RSVP is required.

New York, NY. Moot Court Room (first floor auditorium), Cardozo School of Law, 55 5th Ave, (corner of 12th street and 5th ave), Yeshiva University. Copyright developed in the age of the printing press, and was designed to fit with the system of centralized copying imposed by the printing press. But the copyright system does not fit well with computer networks, and only draconian punishments can enforce it.
The global corporations that profit from copyright are lobbying for draconian punishments, and to increase their copyright powers, while suppressing public access to technology. But if we seriously hope to serve the only legitimate purpose of copyright--to promote progress, for the benefit of the public--then we must make changes in the other direction. This speech will be accessible to all audiences and the public is encouraged to attend.

Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India. Main Auditorium, Kerala University Campus, Kariavatton. Richard Stallman will speak about the Free Software Movement, which campaigns for freedom so that computer users can cooperate to control their own computing activities. The Free Software Movement developed the GNU operating system, often erroneously referred to as Linux, specifically to establish these freedoms. This speech will be part of the International Seminar on Democratic and Secular Education.

Waterloo, Canada. University of Waterloo. Hagey Hall Theatre of the Humanities, University of Waterloo, 200 University Avenue West. Richard Stallman will speak about the Free Software Movement, which campaigns for freedom so that computer users can cooperate to control their own computing activities. The Free Software Movement developed the GNU operating system, often erroneously referred to as Linux, specifically to establish these freedoms. This talk will be accessible to all audience and the public is encouraged to attend. Admission is free.

Jadwisin, Poland. Sala Konferencyjna Nowa, Conference and Tourist Center http://www.owjadwisin.pl/eng.shtml , 05-140 SEROCK (+48 (22) 782 7508, +48 (22) 782 6541, <jadwisin@owjadwisin.pl>. The exact time and date of Richard Stallman's talk is yet to be determined. Copyright developed in the age of the printing press, and was designed to fit with the system of centralized copying imposed by the printing press. But the copyright system does not fit well with computer networks, and only draconian punishments can enforce it.
The global corporations that profit from copyright are lobbying for draconian punishments, and to increase their copyright powers, while suppressing public access to technology. But if we seriously hope to serve the only legitimate purpose of copyright--to promote progress, for the benefit of the public--then we must make changes in the other direction. This speech will be part of the Konferencja Wikimedia Polska, 2009, which will be taking place from May 1st through May 3rd.

Marseille, France. Palais du Pharo, 58 bd Charles Livon 13007 Marseille, France. This is to be a debate between Richard Stallman, San Severino, Claudie Haigneré, Ameenah Gurib-Fakim, and Jean Jouzel and will be part of the 25th Festival Science Frontieres - Le futur comme vous l'aimerez (2009-04-02 through 2009-04-05). This debate will be in French. It will be free and accessible to all audiences and the public is encouraged to attend.